Pipe end finishing machines of a variety of designs are known in the art. Exemplary apparatuses are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,744,356, 3,733,939, 3,813,968, 3,835,738, 1,823,959, 3,704,639, 1,841,550, 2,595,541, 2,861,608, 3,067,651, 3,103,140, 3,229,555, 3,540,329, and 3,699,828.
One problem which occurs during the operation of pipe end finishing apparatuses is that the cutting tool employed for finishing the end of the pipe is subject to vibration and chattering. The pipe end prior to finishing may be uneven or rough, and the cutting tool does not bear uniformly and evenly thereagainst, particularly during initiation of finishing. The spring-loaded and other mechanical assemblies heretofore employed for urging the cutting tool against the pipe are affected by changes of force between the cutting tool and the pipe end, and the heretofore mentioned vibration and chattering results. Another reason why chattering occurs is because the pipe ends are generally not entirely round in shape. The cutting tool support assembly cannot react quickly enough to maintain the tool at constant pressure or force against the pipe end when the irregularities of circularity of the pipe are encountered. There is a time lag for response of the tool supporting assembly to move the tool to a new radial position when such irregularities of circularity occur.